Monday morning my head was floating somewhere in the clouds when the dogs and I climbed the path to the little pond in the hills.
Belle seemed excited about something, rushing to the top of the path.
That brought me down to earth in time to ready my camera and snap this…
…before this happened…
I was kicking myself for not bringing my zoom lens that morning when I noticed this little guy still hanging out at one end of the pond…
(I say "guy". It could be "gal". I admit I know nothing about duck gender! Perhaps I should use some gender neutral word but I'm too lazy to think of one. "Guy" it is.)
Anyway, this little guy seemed totally unruffled about me, my camera and the dogs.
He just kept swimming nonchalantly around the pond, perfectly fine with being left all alone and the sole focus of my paparazzi antics.
I could even imagine him calling out "Chicken!" to his friends in Duck Talk.
To their credit, after Belle's initial excitement, my sweet puppies totally ignored the ducks.
They didn't even bark, just made their way down to the water's edge for a quick dip (Max) and drink (Belle) and then headed back to me.
I was so busy snapping the little guy I didn't think to capture one of my puppies until they were in this totally uninteresting pose, but I felt it only fair to add it to this post.
They were such good dogs!
Ever the optimist, the next morning I brought my zoom lens.
My optimism was rewarded.
The ducks were back!
And they didn't fly away!
Just kept paddling around the pond, oblivious to us, having a great time.
And all because of one brave little duck.
“One person can make a difference and every person must try.” ~ President John F. Kennedy
I'm sure JFK would include ducks in that statement, don't you?
But that's not the end of the story!
Yesterday, guess who I spotted paddling around on our own pond?
You guessed it!
Brave duck!
And guess who was more interested in what Max was doing back at the house than in a little duck swimming around on the pond?
Yep. Good dog.
These are ring-necked ducks just taking a winter vacation in our neighborhood, according to this website.
I hope they come back next year!
Long Hollow 
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